


post-script

by ohvictor



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday, Canon Compliant, Gen, POV Third Person Limited, it's still keito's bday in my timezone it's f, not shippy just sentimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 12:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15908673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohvictor/pseuds/ohvictor
Summary: Rei and Koga impose upon Keito's birthday celebration.





	post-script

**Author's Note:**

> this is peak self indulgence... i was really hoping rei would come to keito's birthday party, and he did not, so i wrote my own... thing. in an ideal world, i would have time and energy to write an aside with kuro and souma too, but alas. maybe next year. title is from [this deemo song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zq8FxpkieU).

The party is just starting to die down—Keito hopes—when Sakuma Rei materializes in front of him as if from a puff of smoke, a demon wearing a fangy grin and holding out a black gift bag.

“Sakuma!” Keito bursts out, and recoils instinctively, peering behind Sakuma. “Is your— Er, Oogami here as well?”

“Oh, no.” Sakuma continues to offer the bag in one hand, withdrawing the other to curl a stray hair behind one batlike ear. “Your large friend would not allow the two of us in at once, so I have sent Wanko back to my club room to wait his turn.”

“My large friend...” Keito squints behind Sakuma and finds Kiryu by the door. Kiryu catches his eye and gives him a thumbs up. Keito makes a mental note to thank Kiryu from the bottom of his heart after this is all over. “I see. Wait... How on earth did _you_ get in, vampire?”

“This line again...” Sakuma clicks his tongue. “I am not as limited by those ancient rules as you might think.”

His fangs are all hidden now, and his hands that had enthusiastically offered the gift have withdrawn, as if he expected a warm welcome and did not receive it. Keito feels...just a little guilty.

“Wanko will be here after I take my leave, I’m sure,” Sakuma continues. “He wants to repay you for attending his own party just a few weeks ago.”

 _How troublesome_ , Keito thinks. He had only ‘attended’ Oogami’s party because it was so damn loud the noise poured out into the hallway, and then once he stuck his nose in he was tricked into staying. Sakuma and his myriad entourage are one headache after another. And it wasn’t _just a few weeks_ ago, certainly it’s been at least a month—unless vampires have no concept of human time? Augh, he’s getting caught up in Sakuma’s whims again...! More and more troublesome!

He scowls, remembering Sakuma’s words. “Wait. _Repay_ me?”

“I believe it is more like, _thank_ you?” Sakuma suggests. “He showed me the gift he got you. It’s very nice. Speaking of...” He lets the ellipsis roll off his tongue, and holds out the black bag again. “I have a small gift for you as well.”

“Can’t it wait until after my party is over,” Keito says, pushing his glasses up his face in an attempt to gain control of the situation, “so that you don’t ruin it?”

Sakuma presses his lips together, and once again retracts the offered gift. “This should be over within an hour or two, yes?” he asks. “I’ll return after you clean up.”

“Oh, no,” Keito starts, but Sakuma simply smiles— _fangs again_ —and disappears from the room as abruptly as he arrived.

Keito sags against a table and wonders if that interaction could have gone better. Or perhaps, if it could have gone worse. He tries to catch Kiryu’s eye across the room, but Kiryu’s occupied with something important—helping Kanzaki cut cake _safely_ with his sword—and Keito can forgive him for not being instantly available to cleanse Keito’s conscience.

Somehow, he always lashes out when Sakuma is involved. He wonders if Sakuma has any feelings left, that Keito could have hurt.

He barely has a chance to recover before Sakuma’s noisier counterpart bursts into the room. Oogami’s voice has the same effect on Keito as loud rock music—that is to say, it is not as grating as Keito pretends it is—and his presence in the room is like a guitar solo in an orchestra. He thrusts a poorly wrapped gift into Keito’s hands, thanks him for attending his party back in July, and then launches himself at Kiryu, who barely seems to notice the dog biting his shoulders. Weirdo.

While Oogami is occupied elsewhere, Keito unwraps the gift. He expects to find something Oogami would want himself, like a CD or a wolf-patterned clothing item, or maybe something Oogami thinks a nerd would like, such as a dictionary or some pens. (Unfortunately, Keito would turn down neither of those gifts.)

What the package turns out to be is two recent volumes of a manga Keito has been reading online. He carefully folds the wrapping paper into a manageable bundle and then examines the volumes. There is no retail label, suggesting Oogami bought them online, or perhaps peeled off the price tag before gifting them. An image rises unbidden in Keito’s mind of Oogami receiving a package containing only gifts for Keito, wrapping them in his room, tongue stuck out in concentration as he mangles a roll of tape. No, that’s not right... If he was ordering gifts online, he probably got something for Otogari as well, so perhaps he just added Keito to an already populated birthday list...

And anyway, how on earth did Oogami know which manga to get? Keito stares across the room at the boy now bickering loudly with Kanzaki. The only person Keito had mentioned this manga to was Isara, since his taste occasionally overlaps Keito’s, but... Well, Isara and Oogami are in the same class, aren’t they? It doesn’t seem unbelievable that Oogami might ask Isara about a gift for Keito. Oogami, like many of their peers, is contradictory, Keito recalls—cares more than he appears to.

When he looks up again, Oogami has released Kiryu, or maybe been removed from him, and Keito catches one last sight of his slouched back as he heads out the door. The rest of the party guests are clearing out as well—the other members of the student council have left, though the transfer student had assured Keito they’d all completed the day’s work, so either that was a lie or they all had places to be... Tsukinaga and Fushimi have disappeared as well, and most of Keito’s classmates. Finally, the party Keito didn’t ask for is ending.

He finds his bag, tucked under a table, and slips Oogami’s gifts inside, and then—checking to make sure no one is watching him—he snaps a few photos of the room. The transfer student spent time decorating, after all, so it would be rude to tear it all down without at least taking photos... For record-keeping purposes, of course.

By the time the party decorations are taken down and sorted into piles, the tables and chairs dragged back into their correct positions for the next day’s activities, and the gifts received and stored, another hour has passed, and night has descended outside the academy. The late hour all but guarantees a reprise of Sakuma’s presence, so Keito sends Kiryu and Kanzaki, who are waiting to walk Keito at least to the train station, off to the student council room to put more things away and check on the state of tomorrow’s paperwork. It makes Keito feel _something_ , down in the depths of his black heart, when he turns a corner outside the room where the party was held and finds Sakuma leaning against a wall there, as if he knew Keito would find him.

Keito’s had over an hour to marinate in remorse for being harsh to Sakuma earlier, but it does not make it easier to be nice to him. In the low light, Sakuma looks more like a spectre than ever, his cheekbones hollow above a thin smile, his hair a dark mass upon his shoulders, the nagging black gift bag once again in his hands.

“I did not invite you,” Keito says uselessly. “It’s _my_ birthday; shouldn’t I be spared your troublesome presence?”

Sakuma laughs, tossing his head back. “I will leave if you want me to. You did come out and meet me, though.”

He’s right, damn it. Keito sighs, eyeing the gift bag. “Well, let’s get this over with.”

“So rude,” Sakuma says, but his eyes twinkle as he offers Keito the gift bag. Finally, Keito takes it, only to find it surprisingly light. What if Sakuma doesn’t have a gift for him at all? Something like, ‘ _My presence is the real gift_ ,’ an even bigger headache?

Pursing his lips, Keito examines the bag. It’s full of black tissue paper— _where on earth does Sakuma find these things?_ —and after Keito ascertains that sticking his hand in carries no risk (with Sakuma one can never be too careful), he finds a small rectangular gift (black wrapping paper) and a card (black envelope). He tucks the bag under one arm and fumbles to open the envelope without dropping the gift. Sakuma offers no help, his red eyes watching Keito intently. When Keito gets the envelope open, he finds a simple birthday card, store-bought, inside which Sakuma’s scrawled a message. His handwriting hasn’t improved since junior high; even then, it looked like he wrote everything in his sleep. Keito squints to make out the words.

_Happy birthday, Hasumi-kun. Despite everything, I am able to celebrate your birthday with you. Today, I can see a future in which we can recall what was lost. You’ll have to forgive this old man for being sentimental on your special day. I hope it has been a good one._

He’s signed his name underneath, the same sort of flowy English signature he uses for idol activities. Keito reads through the note again, and then tucks it back inside the envelope. If Sakuma intends to make him feel something, he refuses to give him the satisfaction of seeing. When Keito looks up to gauge his reaction, Sakuma’s expression is impassive, neutral.

Well, then. Keito moves on to the gift, which is wrapped much more nicely than Oogami’s. He slides the wrapping paper off—careful not to get a paper cut in front of a _vampire_ —and finds a grey glasses case with a small purple bat on it.

Oh, no.

Keito knows what will be inside, but he opens the case anyway. It’s a pair of glasses from the recent JINS collaboration with various units from Yumenosaki—the pair made for UNDEAD. Obviously, Keito had not paid attention to UNDEAD’s design; the shape is the same as his Akatsuki’s, while the coloring is purple and black, with little crosses at the ends of the arms. There’s the special edition cleaning cloth enclosed too, one of which Keito already owns.

He shuts the glasses case with a snap and looks up at Sakuma, frowning. “Why?”

“For your collection,” Sakuma says. He’s not smiling—funny, Keito thought perhaps the gift was a joke. Instead, he’s quiet, watching Keito as he folds the wrapping paper and tucks the envelope and glasses case back into the gift bag.

Keito...doesn’t know what he expected. Perhaps it would have been _easier_ if Sakuma had given him something stupid, because at least he knows how to react to that, or something thoughtful like Oogami’s gift, because at least it improves Keito’s opinion of him. This gift is... It’s sentimental, and Keito considers himself a very smart person, but he doesn’t understand this.

“I’ll give them a home in my collection,” he says hesitantly. “Thank you.”

Sakuma hums, and finally gives Keito a smile. “Good.”

He turns, then, as if expecting a guest, and Keito listens hard and finds the sound of footsteps, possibly his unitmates returning. Sakuma spreads his hands, his smile untouched. “I’ll leave you to it,” he says. Keito has no reason to object, so he watches as Sakuma shuffles off back down the dark hallway and around a corner.

That night, after Kiryu and Kanzaki accompany him to the train station and he shamelessly reads one of the volumes from Oogami cover to cover on the ride home, after he completes his chores in the temple and puts the other gifts away, he rereads the card from Sakuma, and examines the glasses again.

What does he _mean_ , ‘recall what was lost’? Keito is smart, but Sakuma is smart too, and Keito’s sure the dual meaning, that what was lost could be both remembered and re-obtained, is intentional. Perhaps ‘I can see a future’ was a reference to the glasses... With these, perhaps Keito can recall... Keito turns the words over and over in his head.

Everything about the gift is troublesome. He opens the glasses case and picks up the glasses, turning them over in his hands to examine the make. He has Akatsuki’s pair in his collection, and they’re largely the same. The lenses in the pair he owns are his own prescription—is it possible that Sakuma got Keito’s prescription for these UNDEAD lenses, thinking Keito would wear them? It’s ridiculous, but Keito swaps his own glasses for the UNDEAD ones, just to _check_.

They are certainly not his prescription; in fact, the prescription is rather weak, like reading glasses. Suddenly, Keito realizes— _it must be Sakuma’s own prescription_. Sakuma needs glasses, Keito is aware, although he seems averse to actually purchasing a pair and instead insists on borrowing Aoba’s like some kind of glasses demon. But his eyesight is not as bad as Keito’s, and he only seems troubled by it when reading.

He gave Keito a pair of UNDEAD-themed glasses with his _own_ prescription. For _Keito’s_ birthday.

Keito flops back on his futon, groaning loudly. How incorrigible! What does Sakuma think Keito will do with these glasses?! Does he intend to borrow them from Keito, his own gift? Does he take some weird, voyeuristic pleasure from Keito owning something intended for Sakuma? What is Keito supposed to _do_ with a pair of UNDEAD glasses in his personal glasses collection?

He drags himself up off the futon and opens the door of his closet. His glasses collection is set in a hanging organizer. He locates the slot with Akatsuki’s collaboration glasses, and, refusing to think too hard about it, he rearranges a few slots so that he can file Sakuma’s glasses beside Akatsuki’s.

 _Sakuma won_ , he thinks, staring hard at the grey glasses case next to Akatsuki’s red one. _I do feel something_. He stares at the cases for another long moment, and then shuts his closet door with a final snap.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find more info about the jins enstars collab [here](https://wowjapan.asia/2018/08/ensemble-stars-teams-up-with-jins-to-release-units-style-eyewear/). find me on twitter [here](http://twitter.com/worldsearchyou)!


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